Euroleague

In the final, Maccabi successfully defended its title, defeating TAU 90-78. MLB presents the Roberto Clemente Award every year to the player who best follows Clemente's example with humanitarian work. The semifinal matchups were:. In Pittsburgh, the 6th Street Bridge was renamed in his memory, and the Pirates retired his number 21 at the start of the 1973 season. The following teams were involved:. New York immediately named a state park after him; he now has several schools and parks named after him.[1]. The semifinals took place on May 6, with the third-place and championship games on May 8. There is also a monument in his likeness created by Puerto Rican sculptor Jose Buscaglia Guillermety situated in Carolina.

The 2005 Final Four was held in Moscow, Russia. Today this sports complex is called "Ciudad Deportiva Roberto Clemente" (Roberto Clemente Sports City). The semifinal losers play for third place; the winners play for the championship. His native city, Carolina, named an avenue after him and realized his dream of establishing a sports complex where the youth could learn and practice sports in a healthy environment. The Final Four, held at a predetermined site, features the winners of the four quarterfinal series in one-off knockout matches. Puerto Rico has honored Roberto Clemente's memory by naming the coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico Coliseo Roberto Clemente. In the quarterfinal round, the first-place team from each group is matched against a second-place team from another group in a best-of-three series, with two of the three possible games scheduled at the first-place team's home court. He died in a plane crash off the coast of isla verde, Puerto Rico on December 31, 1972 while en route to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

Now, the first- and second-place teams from each group advance. A hero in his native Puerto Rico, Clemente spent much of his time during the off-season involved in charity work. Before, only the group winners advanced to the Final Four (see below). It was the last at-bat of his career. New for the 2004-05 season was a quarterfinal round. On September 30, he hit a double off Jon Matlack of the New York Mets for his 3,000th hit. As in the regular season, each Top 16 group is contested in a double round-robin format. Struggling with injuries, Clemente managed to appear in only 102 games in 1972, but still hit .312 for his final .300 season.

The second phase, known as the Top 16, then begins. His efforts earned him the World Series MVP award. At the end of the regular season, the field is cut from 24 to 16; the surviving teams are divided into four groups. He was the clear star of the series, with an incredible .414 batting average (12 hits in 29 at-bats), typically spectacular defense, and a crucial solo home run in the deciding 2-1 Game 7 victory. Each team plays two games (home-and-home) against every other team in its group. Undaunted, Pittsburgh came back from down two games to none in the series to win it in seven for the second time in Clemente's career. The first phase is the regular season, in which 24 teams, divided into three groups of eight, participate. Baltimore had won 100 games and swept the American League Championship Series, both for the third consecutive year, and were the defending World Series champions.

The Euroleague is currently contested in four phases. In 1971, the Pirates again won the National League pennant behind Willie Stargell's 48 home runs and Clemente's .341 batting average and faced the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. Most of the founding clubs came from Spain, Italy and Greece. The 1966 MVP award was, in the eyes of many Pittsburgh fans, a long overdue acknowledgment of his greatness.
The Euroleague was established by ULEB, the Union of European Leagues of Basketball, which in turn was created by a group of 24 elite club teams. He was also labeled a hypochondriac due to nagging injuries early in his career, although he played in 140 games in each season from 1960 to 1967. The Euroleague is a high-caliber professional basketball league with teams from all over Europe. In protest Clemente reportedly never wore his 1960 World Series ring.

The titles are dated back to 1958 when the first European Champions cup was played. Despite being the offensive and defensive leader of the strong 1960 Pirates club, he finished only eighth in voting for the MVP that season; teammate Dick Groat received the award. 2005 Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Israel). Regardless of his unquestionable success, some (including, supposedly, Clemente himself) felt that the media did not give him the recognition he deserved. 2004 Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Israel). He led the National League in batting average four times (1961, 1964, 1965, and 1967), led the NL in hits twice (1964 and 1967), and won the MVP award for his 1966 season, when he hit .317 while setting career highs in home runs (29) and RBI (119). 2003 FC Barcelona (Spain). For the rest of his career, he batted over .300 in every year save 1968, when he hit .291; he was selected to every All-Star game; and he was given a Gold Glove after every season from 1961 onwards.

2002 Panathinaikos Athens (Greece). Through the rest of the decade, Clemente firmly established himself as one of the premier players in baseball. 2001* Virtus (Kinder) Bologna (Italy). His .314 batting average, 16 home runs, and stellar defense earned him his first trip to the All-Star game. 2000 Panathinaikos Athens (Greece). Clemente batted .310 in the series, hitting safely at least once in every game. 1999 Žalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania). In 1960, however, the team broke through to a 95-59 record, a National League pennant, and a thrilling seven-game World Series victory over the Mantle-Maris New York Yankees.

1998 Virtus (Kinder) Bologna (Italy). While Clemente had begun to fulfill his potential, the Pirates continued to struggle through the 1950s, although they did manage their first winning season since 1948 in 1959. 1997 Olympiacos (Greece). It was the first of thirteen seasons in which Clemente would hit above .300. 1996 Panathinaikos (Greece). In 1956, though, he hit his stride, producing a .311 batting average (third in the league) at the age of 21. 1995 Real Madrid (Spain). Although Clemente's skill with the glove was immediately apparent, he was less impressive at the plate; he batted .255 with 5 home runs and 47 RBI in his first full season in 1955.

1994 Joventut Badalona (Spain). With little to lose, the Pirates installed Clemente in place of incumbent right fielder Sid Gordon early in the 1955 season. 1993 CSP Limoges (France). Pittsburgh at the time was a fixture at the bottom of the National League and had lost 100 games in each of the three previous seasons. 1992 Partizan Belgrade (Yugoslavia). Despite the Dodgers' efforts, Pittsburgh Pirates president Branch Rickey drafted Clemente with the first selection in the post-season draft. 1991 KK Split (Pop 84) (Yugoslavia). He hit only .257 and did not distinguish himself with the bat.

1990 KK Split (Jugoplastika) (Yugoslavia). Aware of a rule that would make Clemente available in a minor league draft (the predecessor of today's Rule 5 Draft) after the 1954 season, the Dodgers tried to hide him with their minor league affiliate, the Montreal Royals. 1989 KK Split (Jugoplastika) (Yugoslavia). His new team, however, was unable to fit him into a star-studded outfield featuring 1953 National League All-Stars Carl Furillo, Duke Snider, and Jackie Robinson. 1988 Olimpia (Philips) Milan (Italy). Scout Al Campanis signed Clemente for the Brooklyn Dodgers with a $10,000 bonus later in 1953. 1987 Olimpia (Tracer) Milan (Italy). At the age of 18, he hit .356 for Santurce in the winter of 1952-1953.

1986 Cibona Zagreb (Yugoslavia). Clemente first caught the eye of major league scouts while playing with the Santurce Crabbers (alongside Willie Mays) in the Puerto Rican Winter League. 1985 Cibona Zagreb (Yugoslavia). A rising star was catching the eyes of many coaches in the MLB as he was in Puerto Rico. 1984 Virtus (Banco di Roma) Rome (Italy). He is one of only four players (as of the end of the 2005 season) to have 10 or more Gold Gloves and a .300+ lifetime batting average. 1983 Pallacanestro Cantù (Ford) (Italy). He also collected 166 triples, finishing in the top five of the league eleven times, and had 266 outfield assists.

1982 Pallacanestro Cantù (Squibb) (Italy). He compiled a lifetime batting average of .317 and batted .300 or better thirteen times, hitting 240 home runs and gathering 1305 runs batted in. 1981 Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Israel). He played in two World Series (1960 and 1971) and got a hit in every game in which he played. 1980 Real Madrid (Spain). Perhaps Clemente's greatest feat was leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a seven-game World Series victory over the Baltimore Orioles in 1971. 1979 KK Bosna Sarajevo (Yugoslavia). He also had one of the most powerful throwing arms of any outfielder in baseball history, which contributed to him winning 12 Gold Glove Awards for his outstanding defense.

1978 Real Madrid (Spain). He was the 11th player in history to reach this number. 1977 Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Israel). He finished his career with exactly 3,000 hits. 1976 Pallacanestro Varese (Mobilgirgi) (Italy). He could throw a runner out from his knees. 1975 Pallacanestro Varese (Ignis) (Italy). Clemente was a 4-time NL batting champion, finishing in the top ten in batting average thirteen times.

1974 Real Madrid (Spain). . 1973 Pallacanestro Varese (Ignis) (Italy). He played 18 seasons in the majors from 1955 to 1972, all with the Pittsburgh Pirates, winning the National League MVP Award in 1966. 1972 Pallacanestro Varese (Ignis) (Italy). Clemente was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. 1971 CSKA Moscow (USSR). He was elected to the Hall of Fame posthumously in 1973, being the first Hispanic American to be selected, and the only exception to the mandatory five-year post-retirement waiting period since it was instituted in 1954.

1970 Pallacanestro Varese (Ignis) (Italy). Roberto Clemente Walker (August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Major League Baseball right fielder and right-handed batter. 1969 CSKA Moscow (USSR). 1968 Real Madrid (Spain). 1967 Real Madrid (Spain).

1966 Olimpia (Simmenthal) Milan (Italy). 1965 Real Madrid (Spain). 1964 Real Madrid (Spain). 1963 CSKA Moscow (USSR).

1962 Tbilisi (USSR). 1961 CSKA Moscow (USSR). 1960 ASK Riga (USSR). 1959 ASK Riga (USSR).

1958 ASK Riga (USSR). Ülker (Istanbul). Efes Pilsen (Istanbul). Winterthur FCB (Barcelona).

Unicaja (Málaga). TAU Cerámica (Vitoria/Gasteiz). Real Madrid-Teka. Union Olimpija (Ljubljana).

Partizan PMB (Belgrade). CSKA Moscow. Prokom Trefl Sopot. Žalgiris (Kaunas).

Lietuvos Rytas (Vilnius). Montepaschi Siena. Climamio Bologna. Benetton Treviso.

Armani Jeans Milano. Maccabi Tel Aviv. Panathinaikos (Athens). Olympiacos Piraeus.

AEK Athens. Bamberg. Strasbourg. Pau-Orthez.

Cibona VIP (Zagreb). Maccabi 91-82 Panathinaikos. CSKA 78-85 TAU Cerámica. Panathinaikos (Greece).

TAU Cerámica (Spain) (official club name: Saski Baskonia, or simply Baskonia). Maccabi Tel Aviv. CSKA Moscow.